


Hemicorporectomy

by OverlyCheerfulRat



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Ghosts, Graphic Description of Corpses, Murder, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 03:04:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18791692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverlyCheerfulRat/pseuds/OverlyCheerfulRat
Summary: Alastor Moody can see ghosts. Remus Lupin is just the coroner.





	Hemicorporectomy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [realisations](https://archiveofourown.org/users/realisations/gifts).



> yeah here you go, doesn't make sense, fuck it. don't think i'll write more but i might.

After the second boy was found with the exact same mutilations, Remus had to admit to himself that there might be a serial killer out there. He was just the coroner, though, it wasn’t his job to share theories. All he had to do was write up a report. 

Victim one, identified through fingerprints, was a thirty-year-old autistic man named Newton Artemis Fido Scamander. His older brother and caretaker, Theseus Scamander, had reported him missing four days before his body was found in a vacant lot. “The corpse was neatly bisected, cleaned, drained of blood, emasculated, and posed with arms over the head and legs spread wide. Mouth slit open to ears. Hands and feet removed with surgical precision.”

Victim two, identified by sight, was a twenty-four-year-old American tourist named Credence Barebone. He had been in London with his adoptive mother, Mary Lou Barebone, and two younger sisters, Chastity and Modesty. No one reported him missing, but Mary Lou told police he had disappeared a week before his body was found in a vacant lot. “The corpse was neatly bisected, cleaned, drained of blood, emasculated, and posed with arms over the head and legs spread wide. Mouth slit open to ears. Hands and feet removed with surgical precision.”

So far, there was no third victim. It had been a month since Credence was found, but Remus still told Harry to come straight home from school or go directly to the Weasley’s house and call him or Sirius once he got there. At fifteen, Harry was probably too young for the killer if the current pattern was enough to go by, but Remus was taking no chances. He knew the killer liked pretty young men, and Harry was reasonably good-looking. Too young, though. Hopefully.

 

Alastor Moody had always been able to see ghosts. They found him, told him how they died, screamed until he did what they wanted. Usually it was a message, “tell mum I love her” or something. The murdered ones wanted more than that, and it was because of them Moody became a police detective. He knew who the killer was, and all he had to do was find solid evidence. “Dead people told me” wouldn’t fly in court.

Newt had woken him up around 3 AM, crying for his brother. Moody couldn’t get much out of him except “he hurt me, he hurt me, he hurt me” repeated over and over again. The worst part of seeing them was that they all looked the way they had when they died. When he was seven, there had been a car crash victim who gave him nightmares for weeks. Newt wasn’t quite as bad as that- the removal of hands, feet, and genitalia was apparently post-mortem, but the Glasgow smile was very present. It must have been bisection that killed him, because the gash in his abdomen was careful and so deep Moody could see his organs when he moved suddenly. Incomplete, though. He must have bled out or died of shock before it was finished.

Credence was the same way, sobbing incoherently for days before he grabbed Moody’s sleeve and whimpered, “I thought he was nice.” Newt calmed down somewhat after that, and told Moody that he’d known the man before it happened. “He said there was a puppy, that he had a puppy. I love animals. Wanted to see the puppy. He tied me down and he hurt me, he hurt me, he h-” “Yes, yes, he hurt you. We’ve covered that,” Moody said irritably. “What was his name?” “He hurt me,” Newt whispered. “Right. Thank you. Credence, did you know him beforehand?” “No. It was raining, and I’d gone to the store. He offered to give me a ride back to the hotel.” Neither of them spoke after that. A week later, Moody woke up at midnight to find a third figure in his room. The boy turned his head, and Moody sighed when he saw the Glasgow smile and frightened, confused tears.

 

Remus wasn’t initially concerned when Harry mentioned George hadn’t come home from the store last night. There were a lot of Weasleys, sometimes it was hard to keep track. It wasn’t until the office called to say they had a third victim that he began to worry about the boy. His suspicion was proven correct when he looked over the corpse lying on the steel gurney.

Victim three, identified by sight, was a seventeen-year-old student named George Weasley. He had not been officially reported missing, as he had only been gone for a little under a day before his body was found in a vacant lot. “The corpse was neatly bisected, cleaned, drained of blood, emasculated, and posed with arms over the head and legs spread wide. Mouth slit open to ears. Hands and feet removed with surgical precision.”


End file.
